Christmas At The Gingerbread Café by Rebecca Raisin

Christmas is the season the Gingerbread Café was made for…but owner Lily couldn’t be feeling less merry if she tried. She’s spent another year dreaming of being whisked away on a sleigh-ride for two, but she’s facing festive season alone – again. And, just to give her another reason to feel anything other than candy-cane perky, a new shop across the road has opened… Not only is it selling baked goods, but the owner, with his seriously charming smile, has every girl in town swooning.

But Lily isn’t about to let her business crumble — the Gingerbread Café is the heart of the community, and she’s going to fight for it! This could be the Christmas that maybe, just maybe, all her dreams – even the someone-to-decorate-the-Christmas-tree-with ones – really do come true!

Review

The author Rebecca kindly sent me an e-book in an exchange for an honest review. I must say, prior to conversing with the author I’d heard a lot about these books from my good friend Abbey from MissBookWorm Reviews. She’d recommended them to me and she sang praises for them.

I started this book as soon as I downloaded it onto my iPad Kindle app, and I climbed into bed to start reading. I didn’t put the device down until I completed it two hours later. I should say, this book is a novella, which is why I completed it so quickly. I think this is absolutely ideal for me, and probably for quite a few people that are busy and are finding it hard to scheduling time to read. In the run up to Christmas I know I’ll be working a lot, so reading a novella means I can complete a festive book to get into the spirit.

I was instantly hooked, and I was laughing straight away. There is an image of a woman with her hand stuffed up a turkey, bawling her eyes out listening to Christmas Carols. For some reason, this completely tickled me and I was in stitches laughing. This meant I was immediately attracted to the character and was invested in her story. Lil is a lovely character, very kind at heart but has a feisty side that keeps her interesting. She’s the owner of The Gingerbread Café and is still struggling with the break-up of her marriage.

To make matters worse, there is new competition just across the street. A rival company has just opened its doors and threatens to ruin her business. Not to mention, the owner of the establishment is the dishy (an understatement), Damon. All I can say is, if you’re looking for a new candidate for book boyfriend, this one will definitely be a contender!

I haven’t read many novellas in my time, and I did wonder how a shorter story could satisfy my need for riveting plot, and strong character development, but this book certainly delivers. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I took from this book in such as short time, the plot is engaging, quickly paced (as you’d expect) and full of drama! I couldn’t put this book down and had to steam my way through in one sitting, despite it being 2am.

This book left me wanting more, and I immediately started the follow on novella, Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café. Keep your eyes peeled for a review of that book too.

Definitely pick up this book if you’re looking for a quick read that’ll give you all the warm and fuzzies this Christmas.